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The Black Company
The Black Company by Glen Cook is the first novel of the Black Company series and the first of the three Books of the North. It chronicles: the last days of the Black Company's service to the Syndic of Beryl on the northern coast of the southern continent; the new arrangement with their next employer Soulcatcher who brought them on their fateful journey across the Sea of Torments; and, several months of their campaigns and special missions in the Lady's Empire, up to and including the sprawling, bloody Battle of Charm. The novel was first published in May 1984, and was quickly followed by its planned sequel Shadows Linger that same year. The interquel Port of Shadows – which was published about 35 years after the Books of the North – revealed many "lost" events that took place between The Black Company and Shadows Linger. Regarding Keith Berdak's artwork for the cover of the first edition, Glen Cook revealed in a 2002 interview (external link) that it was not originally planned but rather was selected during a chance encounter: From the back cover Summary Chapter 1: Legate The first book opens in the Jewel City of Beryl, where the Black Company is in service as bodyguards for to the Syndic, the city's ruler. The Annalist and physician of the Black Company, Croaker, is curing one of his Company brothers for poisoning and questions him for places that he has been eating outside their barracks. Identifying the source, Croaker reports his findings to the Company's Captain, who sends a sergeant named Mercy, the minor wizard Silent, and a dozen men with Croaker to deal with them. Their target is the Mole Tavern, and they suspect the poisoners are the Blues, the faction which opposes the Syndic. After they kill the perpetrators in a bloodbath, Silent discovers that some of the more conservative members of the Blues are hiding in a cellar. They take them captive to turn them over to the Syndic. On the Avenue of the Syndics, they see a visiting Legate from across the Sea of Torments, accompanied by hard-bitten veterans like themselves. The mysterious masked rider is on the back of a titanic black stallion. Later, a violent riot erupts in response to the arrest of the Blue leaders. Several Urban Cohorts mutiny when they demand extra pay to deal with the mob and the Syndic refuses. A Company stronghold is attacked, and Mercy is fatally wounded, but the Cohorts are ultimately repulsed. The next day several members of the Company including Croaker and three of the Company's four wizards (Goblin, Silent, and Tom-Tom) follow a rumor of a forvalaka escaping from Beryl's Necropolitan Hill. At the opened tomb they discover fifty-four ancient forvalaka skeletons and several freshly-killed soldiers, all drained of blood and missing their hearts and livers. This confirms the rumor about the forvalaka, which frightens Tom-Tom, whose former master N'Gamo was badly mutilated by a young forvalaka decades prior. The riots quiet down and thousands of corpses litter the streets. The Company later receives an offer of alternative employment from the masked Legate if they let him replace the Syndic with a puppet. During a meeting within the Company they eventually decide to take the offer via their most honorable deception. That night, the forvalaka attacks the Syndic's residence, the Paper Tower, and slaughters almost everyone inside. The Syndic actually survives, but it is implied that the Company finishes him off. When the Company goes after the forvalaka, it kills many of them, including Tom-Tom, much to the horror of Tom-Tom's brother and fellow wizard One-Eye. It escapes down the exterior of the tower. Leaving the city that night, they kill hundreds of the mutinous Urban Cohorts soldiers in their sleep. They head to a lighthouse on the Pillar of Anguish, where their transportation arrives in the form of the Legate's gigantic ship. The Legate takes the Black Company into the service of the northern empire and reveals that he has captured the forvalaka and has plans for it. Croaker realizes who the Legate is; when the Captain questions him, he reveals the Legate is Soulcatcher, who was buried alive at least three hundred years ago alongside nine other evil sorcerers called the Ten Who Were Taken and their masters, the Dominator and his wife the Lady. They ruled an ancient empire called the Domination before being sealed away. The Company resigns themselves to their new service and One-Eye is deeply troubled that the caged forvalaka on the ship does not have any of the wounds they gave it. Chapter 2: Raven After crossing the Sea of Torments, they disembark at the city of Opal, where they stay for a few weeks. They meet with a strange man called Raven at the Gardens to consider his enlistment. After a bizarre confrontation with the powerful Imperial staff general Lord Jalena, the senior Company members witness Raven swiftly murder a woman and two of her companions. They head out to deal with Rebels who are causing trouble in the northern region of the Empire. After arriving near the city of Oar and trying to link up with the Taken called Limper and hear that several of his men are nearby the Lieutenant sends the sergeant Elmo to make contact. Elmo takes Croaker, Silent, Raven and seven other men with him, and when they arrive at a village, they discover everyone is dying or dead, except for Darling and Flick: a deaf-mute little girl and her elderly grandfather, who are being tortured by the Limper's drunk soldiers. Saving the two victims and later recapturing the fortress at Deal earn the Limper's hatred. Later during the winter while still occupying the fortress, Raven goes on a weekly supply run ("turnip patrol") to Oar with Candy, Doughbelly, Jolly, and Flick. However when they are sold out by the stablekeeper Cornie, the group is ambushed by about a dozen local thugs hired by the Limper's underlings Captain Lane and Colonel Zouad. Raven is severely wounded and Flick is killed. In retaliation, Elmo leaks the location of the Limper's men to the Rebels, who capture them. But when it becomes a danger that the Company's involvement might be discovered, Soulcatcher sends a fellow Taken called Shapeshifter to help. They infiltrate the Rebel bunker in Oar and spring a trap on the Limper when he arrives to rescue Zouad. Raven goes missing but reappears as the Company moves out from Elm, rejoining them, and taking the little girl Darling as his ward. Chapter 3: Raker Later in the Salient at the fortress Meystrikt after becoming known as the Lady's elite during an ambush patrol the Company obtains some of the rebel sorcerer Rakers' hair. Using this One-Eye, Goblin, and Silent come up with a plan to take him down with a bounty for his head which Soulcatcher approves. Soulcatcher, Goblin, One-Eye, Croaker, Elmo, Raven, and two more soldiers named Otto and Hagop go to the city of Roses and set the trap. Eventually taking the initiative Raven and Croaker track down Raker in Roses, kill him, and with Elmos' help obtain the award which they split before they are returned to the rest of the Company. Chapter 4: Whisper Despite their victory, the Company is forced to leave the Salient on account of the Limper's apparent blunders in the north. They head through the Forest of Cloud toward the city of Lords. During the retreat, they stumble upon and ambush a training camp of the Rebel sorceress/general Whisper. They discover her valuable papers which the Lady and Soulcatcher later use to reveal that the Limper is a traitor. The Limper's true name was uncovered by Whisper, and she has used it to suborn him... the Imperial defeats in Forsberg and the Salient are his treachery. Croaker and Raven receive some training in Lords, and the pair are sent to ambush both Whisper and the Limper in the forest. The risky operation is a success, and the Lady herself appears to take possession of the prisoners. The Limper is tortured gruesomely by the Lady, and is then carried off by a dragonfly demon. But Whisper suffers a much worse fate: she is transformed into the first of the Lady's new Taken. Croaker, Raven, and Silent make their way out of the Forest of Cloud to find Lords badly besieged. They cannot enter the city to rejoin their comrades. There is a hellish sorcery duel occurring at the walls: Soulcatcher and Nightcrawler are trading explosive blows with Harden–Whisper's ferocious cousin–and other members of the Circle of Eighteen. Chapter 5: Harden After losing Lords, the Company and a few thousand other Imperials retreat across the Windy Country to the Stair of Tear. They fight against Harden's Rebels almost every step of the way. At the Stair, they hold the enemy forces at bay for a time. In a carefully-planned assassination, four of the Taken (Soulcatcher, Shapeshifter, Stormbringer, and the Hanged Man) take down Harden. But Croaker witnesses an inexplicable and frightening incident during which Soulcatcher and Stormbringer allow the Hanged Man to die, despite Shapeshifter's obvious desire to save the man. Although Whisper and some of the old Taken are accumulating stunning victories against the Rebel in the east, things are collapsing around the Black Company in the center of the Empire. They are forced to retreat yet again, this time toward the Tower at Charm... the Empire's headquarters. The Great Comet is in the sky, a possible harbinger of doom for the Lady and her followers. Chapter 6: Lady The Black Company captures two more Rebel sorcerers for the Lady, young newlyweds called Feather and Journey. On the return trip to deliver the new prisoners, Croaker believes he is targeted by one of the Taken. Strange lime-colored thread threatens him. They hustle away and meet the Howler, who flies them on a giant flying carpet to the Tower. During the final preparations for Charm's defenses, Croaker meets the Lady again. Soon, a massive accumulation of Rebel armies attempts to crush their enemy in the days-long Battle of Charm. Shapeshifter is reportedly killed in very suspicious circumstances. Croaker is attacked by the forvalaka, last seen in Soulcatcher's possession, but is saved by the huge Taken known as Bonegnasher. Later that night, the Taken suffer even more fatalities. But it is infighting that does them in, not the enemy. Stormbringer mutinies, and she and Bonegnasher kill one another. On another night, Nightcrawler is killed by the Rebels, but the Faceless Man and Moonbiter kill each other. The Lady sends for Croaker personally, and reveals that the women among the Taken have been betraying her to support the Dominator, who is the true driving force behind the Rebels. She subjects him to the Eye, a dreadful experience, but gives him a beautiful bow with black arrows to use for a special purpose. He uses one of the arrows to chase away a mysterious attacker: a sheet of darkness which fits the description of Soulcatcher's namesake magic. On the final day of the battle, the Rebel leadership claims to have found their long-awaited savior child, the reincarnation of the White Rose. The Company wizards can see that it is a hoax, created to motivate the enemy rank-and-file. Feather and Journey–new Taken alongside Whisper–join to stop the Rebel's final push. The Howler flies over the enemy formations, dropping bizarre orbs. Then, there is yet another betrayal among the Taken: Soulcatcher somehow sabotages the Howler's flying carpet, and the diminutive wizard slams into the top of the Tower at high speed. The Lady and Croaker leave the battle to chase after Soulcatcher on the backs of sorcery-enhanced black stallions. After a long pursuit during which Croaker doubts he is in full control of himself, he shoots Soulcatcher with his special arrows, and lops off his target's head. Soulcatcher's helmet opens for the first time, unexpectedly revealing the face of a gorgeous woman. The Lady explains that Soulcatcher was her own sister. Where Croaker once entertained fanciful romances about the Lady, now he is thoroughly disgusted. He has no choice but to accompany her back on her badly damaged flying carpet. Returning to the Tower, Croaker sees windrows of dead men. Tens of thousands have been killed by the deadly magic in the Howler's orbs. Many dropped dead in formation. While most of the dead were Rebels, a significant number were Imperials. He also briefly sees Darling among the basalt wasteland which surrounds the field of battle. Arriving at the Tower, the Limper is revealed to have been reeducated via the Lady and newly loyal. The remaining Rebel have been killed via ambushes and traps in the Tower. Chapter 7: Rose Raven is believed to have died in the battle, but Croaker and Silent surmise otherwise and eventually track him down. The two realize that Darling is the true reincarnation of the White Rose. Raven had deserted with Darling to protect her from the Lady. After a tense encounter, they give him horses, rations, and money (his share of the treasure from the entrapment of Raker in Roses). Raven and Darling go into hiding, and Croaker and Silent return the Black Company. End of Book One. List of editions The Black Company was published as a standalone novel (with the exception of the Russian 2-novel combos) in the following editions, translations, and formats. They are listed in order of publication, earliest first; some reappearances of the same translation may be grouped together. See also Books of the North for the list of omnibuses in which The Black Company appeared. British English Russian (1993 North-West) This "pirated" translation of the The Black Company, released by the St. Petersburg publishing house North-West, was an unauthorized edition. It was produced without the consent of the author Glen Cook. The cover art and the interior illustrations are all by V. Asadullin. The same publisher also released an unauthorized translation of Shadows Linger, which featured cover and interior art by the same artist. Polish Russian (1997 AST Dragon Age Chronicles) This edition was part of the publisher's Dragon Age Chronicles (Век Дракона Хроники / Vek Drakona Khroniki) series. Lithuanian French (1998 L'Atalante) The French translation, first published by L'Atalante, features original artwork by Didier Graffet throughout the book. German (1999 Blanvalet) The first German translation, published in 1999 by Blanvalet, is now out-of-print. Russian (2000 AST Golden Fantasy) novel pair This single hardcover containing both The Black Company and Shadows Linger was part of the publisher's Golden Fantasy series (Золотая серия фэнтези / Zolotaya seriya fentezi). The cover of the first printings is shown here. For the 2008 reprint with an alternative cover, scroll farther down. Czech Hungarian Spanish (2001 La Factoria) The novel was translated into Spanish by the famous Domingo Santos, and was published first by the fantasy publisher La Factoría de Ideas in Madrid in 2001 (ISBN: 9788484214021). It was reissued a few more times, always with the same cover art: in partnership with the publishing group Puzzle (ISBN: 9788489746220); and later, by La Factoría again but labeled as a "2nd Edition" (ISBN: 9788498000078). Bulgarian French (2004 J'ai lu) The same French translation previously published by L'Atalante (scroll farther up) was republished by J'ai lu in smaller paperback format poche with cover art by Johan Camou (above left and center); this cover art was later replaced by the more abstract art of Slava Gerj (above right) when the publisher did a cover refresh. Serbian American English Russian (2008 AST Golden Fantasy) novel pair This single hardcover containing both The Black Company and Shadows Linger was part of the publisher's Golden Fantasy series (Золотая серия фэнтези / Zolotaya seriya fentezi). This is a reprint with an alternative cover. To see the original cover which first published in 2000, scroll farther up. Russian (2008 AST Dragon Age 2) novel pair This single hardcover containing 2 novels was part of the publisher's Dragon Age 2 series (Век дракона 2 / Vek Drakona 2). Romanian Brazilian Portuguese Persian Finnish German (2015 Mantikore) The German translation published in 2015 by Mantikore is still available and is also on sale in e-book format. Polish audiobook Spanish (2019 Montena) Montena (Penguin Random House Grupo) picked up the rights to the Spanish translation that was originally published by La Factoría. It was republished in 2019 with new cover art by Adam S. Doyle. European Portuguese Black Company, The Black Company, The